Dear Diary

Chapter 67

About an hour after my mom left for work I heard the purr of a motorbike come to a halt outside my house. The morning sun was shining brightly and I gave a shy smile when I greeted Cole who looked as handsome as ever. Dobey was ecstatic to see him that it took him a good five minutes to calm down.

Because it was such a nice day outside, we went to sit on the back-porch in the sun. Our backyard wasn't anything to write home about: the lawn was a bit overgrown (thanks to the still broken lawnmower my dad promised to fix) and brown due to the winter, there were obviously no flowers and the roses that normally always bloomed were dormant.

I felt a little self-conscious at our mediocre garden and small house when Cole was used to a mansion and luxurious landscapes. But Cole seemed completely at ease as he sat down on the porch, pulling his jacket off, before leaning back on his arms. I couldn't help but notice the way his biceps bulged at the movement.

Swallowing thickly, I took a seat a couple feet away from him and stared at Dobey, who now lay passed out in the warm winter sun. It was silent between Cole and I, but the kind that didn't need to be filled with words. I wasn't sure how long we sat there, but when I turned I couldn't help but look at the swirling tattoos on his left arm.

"Why did you get those kinds of tattoos?" I asked and Cole glanced at me. I looked away trying to fight down the blush and butterflies. "I mean, they're not an actual image of anything ..."

Cole was silent as he stared at me before he sighed. "It's the same kind my dad had," he said as he looked down at the wooden flooring beneath him.

I scooted closer, intrigued. "Tell me about them."

"Who? My parents?" Cole asked as he looked back at me.

I nodded and looked at him hopefully. He thought for a moment before lying down on his back that his head rested on his jacket and patted the spot next to him. My heart jumped in my chest as I slowly and nervously lowered myself down next to him, resting my head on his jacket as well. My skin tingled when his arm lightly brushed against my own and was shocked slightly when he didn't move it.

"My parents were the bravest and strongest people I ever met," he began. "I didn't spend as much time with them as I would have liked because of their jobs, but they always made my sister and I feel loved when they were home. They would sometimes be gone months at a time so my sister and I would stay by Aunt Stella and her husband. My mom was something else though. She was the one who taught me how to fight."

My eyes widened and I turned to look at Cole shocked. My breath hitched when I realised that he had already turned his head and was staring at me intently, our faces millimetres apart. I swallowed and quickly looked away as my face flared with colour. 

"She sure sounds tough," I muttered.

I lost track of time as we just sat there in the sun, telling each other a few childhood stories. "I never believed my parents with the stories of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth fairy," I stated.

"Oh?" Cole asked as he quirked a brow.

"Yup, every time 'Santa' came, I kept trying to prove to my younger cousins that it was my uncle by trying to pull of his white beard," I said with a smile.

"Sounds like me," Cole said with a soft chuckle and my heart warmed at the sound. I don't think I've ever heard him laugh.

"I once proved that the Tooth Fairy wasn't real by not telling my mom when one of my teeth fell out. It stayed in my shoe for two weeks before I eventually threw it out."

I smiled, but my stomach decided to remind me that it hadn't eaten for a few hours by rumbling painfully. "Uh ... do you want some lunch?" I asked as I sat up, Cole followed and shrugged his shoulders.